


Calling Card

by starjay



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, M/M, hitchhikers - Freeform, idk where I was going with this, road trip but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 17:03:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15823206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starjay/pseuds/starjay
Summary: There is a general rule to not pick up hitchhikers, because they could be murderers. There is also a general rule to not hitchhike, because the driver could be a murderer.That makes things slightly awkward when Kim Mingyu, a skilled assassin from one of Seoul’s infamous gangs, picks up Jeon Wonwoo, a freelance mercenary.





	Calling Card

**Author's Note:**

> aka the hitchhiker au no one asked for
> 
> should i be editing castle of thorns right now? probably. that doesn't stop me from posting something i've written ages ago, though. please don't hate me too much?
> 
> huge thanks to vivi, who sat through my brainstorming session for this fic, and blue, who as always is an awesome beta!
> 
> enjoy!

Mingyu stared at his reflection in the mirror, straightening the lapels of his leather jacket. It was going to be a casual day today, with no new target from his superiors, so he was free to go wherever he liked. He had decided to go for a down low look anyway, with his jacket pulled over a black hoodie and t-shirt, and a cap that said ‘work hard play hard’ across its front.

With the stunt he pulled over his last kill and his face all over the national news, it was best no one recognized him - a famed assassin from one of the most notorious gangs in Seoul - out and about in broad daylight when he was now a very wanted criminal of the police.

He thought back to the assignment, where the client had specified they wanted the target suffocated in their workspace. Of course, given that the target was a rich and lazy CEO and the client was his impatient stepson, it meant that Mingyu had to steal his way into the company building without being noticed to complete the job. Setting fire to the top floor was simply a flourish to the kill, and he’d left the gang’s calling card on the front steps of the building before he disappeared into the night. But not fast enough apparently, for a witness had caught sight of his face, which was now broadcasted nationwide.

The assassin smirked as he thought of the profiler’s rendition of his face since they couldn’t find an actual picture, the top half hidden by the mask he always wore on missions, earning him his nickname. _Assassin takes out CEO - who sent him?_ and _Coyote, a walking enigma_ made up most of the headlines for the past week, though the hype had died down gradually. A quick web search even turned up fanclubs for ‘Coyote’ that sprung up when news was first released, which he found deeply amusing, even if it earned him a scolding from his superiors.

Casting one last look into the mirror to make sure he was unrecognizable, Mingyu pulled his cap low and exited the gang’s headquarters. His plans were simple - to lie low for a while and take a well-deserved break in Busan for a few days, so the search for him would die down and so he could resume his work. His briefing with his boss earlier confirmed that taking a break was the best idea, so he went through the bags he packed for emergencies one last time. Tossing his gun into the compartment between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s, he pulled out of the building’s parking lot and steeled himself for the four hour drive down to Busan.

Since he chose to leave early in the morning, there was little traffic, and he was able to make it onto the highway with little trouble. He turned on the radio for the trip to fill in the silence, bobbing his head to some upbeat pop song that matched his current mood. Mingyu settled in his seat comfortably, bracing himself for a boring four hours.

A little way into the drive, however, he found that it might not be so boring after all, for he saw the silhouette of a boy at the side of the road, holding his hand out like he wanted to hitchhike.

Now, being in his line of work, Mingyu had reason to be suspicious, and the sight of the boy’s duffle bag furthered his suspicions. Yet something about the boy, the familiar aura he gave off, made him pull over after checking the highway for cars. Of course, no sane soul would be out and about at 4am, but he had to make sure.

Mingyu didn’t usually deal with strangers, unless said strangers were his targets and would soon end up dead, but he reasoned that even if the boy was dangerous, then he was skilled enough to protect himself. And if the boy turned out to be harmless, then perhaps he could provide company until Mingyu dropped him off wherever he wanted to go.

He slowed his car to a halt, pulling up next to the startled boy and rolled his window down.

“Hey, need a ride?” he called out, voice friendly as he tested the waters. The boy, who appeared to be his age or maybe a bit older upon closer inspections, blinked at him in surprise before quickly schooling his features into indifference. His piercing black eyes seemed to stare into Mingyu’s soul through his specs, though the glasses might have simply been an accessory.

“Yes, thank you,” the boy replied hesitantly, before getting into the car. Mingyu understood his reluctance, for he himself would certainly not trust a random person on the highway either.

A flurry of movements to his right kicked his instincts into action, making him move by muscle memory to defend himself. When the situation caught up to him, he and the stranger each had a gun aimed at the other’s head, and he could tell by the hitchhiker’s expression that this was not at all how he expected the confrontation to go.

The inside of the car went silent for a moment too long, so Mingyu cleared his throat to break the tense atmosphere.

“So…this is awkward. Care to explain?”

The boy glared at him balefully, tightening his grip on the gun, but Mingyu could tell he wasn’t about to shoot. At least, not yet anyway. “Just take me to Changwon and I won’t have to hurt you.”

Mingyu dug his own gun into the boy’s temple. “I’m not sure you’re in a position to call the shots,” he grinned at the pun, “but maybe we can get to know each other a little bit. I’m Kim Mingyu, professional assassin. How about you?” His introduction was perhaps too relaxed for the weight of his words, but the boy wasn’t fazed.

“Jeon Wonwoo,” he said eventually, lowering his gun slightly. “I’m…also an assassin. A mercenary, to be specific, but all most people hire me to do is kill other people, anyway.”

“Great,” Mingyu grinned at the boy again, putting away his gun in the glove compartment. “Now that that’s out of the way, to Changwon, right? Close the door and we can go. I’m going to Busan, so it’s on the way.”

Wonwoo did as he was told, though he kept a suspicious eye on him. Mingyu thought this was quite unfair, as he was the one who hitchhiked in the first place.

“Why do you keep staring at me like that?” he finally asked after ten minutes of uncomfortable silence and too much inspection. “I know I’m good looking, but it’s rude to stare.”

The other assassin blinked hard suddenly, as if having an epiphany. “You’re Coyote. The guy who’s been all over the news lately.”

“The one and only.” Mingyu tried for his most charming smile, which finally drew a reaction other than distaste from Wonwoo. The other assassin could be quite the looker himself, if he wasn’t scowling all the time.

Wonwoo looked away from him and stared out the window, snorting. “Of course the guy who set fire to the company building has to be this obnoxious.”

“I’m not obnoxious,” Mingyu replied, refusing to look at Wonwoo. He knew he was pouting, but who was this handsome stranger to tell him that he was obnoxious or not? “Besides, it’s always nice to go out with a flourish, instead of hiding your kills. That’s boring.”

“It’s called being subtle and evading the police, it’s not boring,” Wonwoo huffed, and Mingyu was once again internally celebrating this small victory at making the other boy talk. Then his words registered, making him take his eyes off the road for a second.

“You! You were the one hiding all my corpses a few months ago for weeks after I left them in the open with my gang’s calling card. I was wondering which annoying little brat was doing that,” he said in an accusatory tone, and he would’ve pointed his finger at him had he not needed it to drive.

Wonwoo scowled again, and he really wished he would stop marring his beautiful features like that. “I’m pretty sure I’m older than you. And it’s the way you do things that will get you arrested one day. Better to be careful.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Mingyu shot back. “Professional assassin here. And I have a mob empire to back me up, you should worry about yourself first.”

“Maybe if you weren’t so adamant about making a show, your good looking face wouldn’t be all over the news now, would it.”

Mingyu stilled for a moment, before grinning wide. “You think I’m good looking?”

“How can you be a coyote, you’re more of a puppy,” Wonwoo muttered to himself after scoffing at his teasing question, yet he refused to meet the other assassin’s eyes.

Mingyu chuckled. “I’m just kidding. But it’s nice to know you care.”

“I just admire the way you take out your targets, don’t misunderstand,” the other boy blurted quickly.

“Whatever you say.”

After that, the other assassin opened up more easily, and Mingyu allowed himself to bask in the feeling of being with someone akin to a friend that he could joke around with without them looking at him like he was a psychopath.

Mingyu learned that Wonwoo liked reading and was a thoughtful person. He learned, that despite his cold exterior, the other boy had a warm heart reserved for those close to him. He was going down to Changwon to visit his family before picking up another job, similar to Mingyu’s motives of going to Busan.

In turn, Wonwoo learned that the Coyote was the very opposite of his assassin persona online fangirls described as ‘dark, mysterious, and ruthless’, that he was a very positive person who wore his heart out on his sleeves. Mingyu had a deep love for all animals, but specifically dogs in particular, which caused a wave of disgust to go through Wonwoo.

“How can you not love puppies! They’re so soft and cute and innocent and don’t you just want to pet them forever?” Mingyu said in distress. “What did they ever do to you?”

Wonwoo stared back in disbelief. “How can you like the little furry devils? They seem all cute and playful until you get to know them, and then they bark at you to no end and bare their sharp teeth and threaten to murder your family in your sleep.”

“Wow, hyung,” (they established that, indeed, Wonwoo was older than him by a year,) “is this from a personal experience of childhood trauma or something? That sounded oddly specific.”

He told him of his old neighbour’s devil pomeranian, which made Mingyu laugh. “Stop laughing! This is a genuine fear, okay? Dogs are terrifying.”

“Coming from a professional, cold-blooded mercenary,” Mingyu deadpanned, teasing.

“We all have our weaknesses,” Wonwoo argued falteringly, though it was mostly so he could see Mingyu laugh again. That boy had a beautiful smile that lit up his entire face.

The conversation turned towards their career as time went by, the hours passing faster than they would have if Mingyu had made the drive alone. Now, more than ever, he was glad he picked up Wonwoo on the way.

“You know…you should join my gang. It’ll make it easier on you,” Mingyu offered quietly, as if he was asking a different, more intimate question.

“I’ll think about it,” Wonwoo replied, equally softly. Mingyu melted at the boy’s deep, rich voice. “You know how I left my old gang because they abused their power - and their members - too much, right? I don’t trust gangs, I don’t trust anyone. I can’t. At least, not yet.”

“My gang isn’t like that, you’ll have me. We could partner up,” Mingyu offered, realizing that he was desperate to have some form of contact with the other boy now that their destination was rapidly approaching. Of course, he could just ask for his phone number, but his life had been anything but normal up until now, so he figured he wouldn’t ask someone out the normal way, either. “Think about it, okay?”

A few moments later, Mingyu exited the highway and navigated the streets of Changwon with Wonwoo’s help, dropping him off on a quiet street.

“Thanks for the ride, I guess,” Wonwoo mumbled, once again unwilling to meet his eye.

“No problem,” he answered, feeling numb as the other boy walked away. A few seconds later, he realized that Wonwoo accidentally left his gun in the passenger seat, so he quickly ran out to catch him before he went too far.

“Wait!” he called, making the other boy turn around. “You left this.”

Wonwoo reached out to take his weapon, and their fingers brushed around the gun. Mingyu let go and scratched his neck awkwardly, letting the assassin put away the weapon.

Suddenly, in an almost parallel to what first happened in the car, Wonwoo attacked him with lightning speed and pinned him to the wall of the alleyway they had pulled up against, pressing a blade to his throat.

“Kinky,” Mingyu choked out suggestively at their position, making Wonwoo flustered and loosen his grip. His training kicked in, allowing him to push Wonwoo and flip the other boy around so he was pressed to his back. The knife clattered harmlessly to the ground.

“Wouldn’t let a rival go peacefully, huh?” he leaned in to whisper in his ear. “You should message me if you ever miss me, then. It’s called a calling card for a reason.” Mingyu dropped his gang’s signature card in front of Wonwoo, letting the twisted joker - one half black and the other half yellow-red - flutter to the ground. Mingyu escaped to his car then, letting Wonwoo pick it up to find the phone number scrawled in black ink across the back.

Wonwoo looked at him with a soft laugh, but he had already sped off, waving a hand through the window. Shaking his head at the boldness of the young assassin, Wonwoo chuckled and added the number to his contacts. This wouldn’t be the last time he saw ‘Coyote’, he was sure of it.

**Author's Note:**

> this was...probably the first seventeen fic i attempted to write back when i first decided to ult them, so i hope it wasn't too terrible to read? let me know what you guys think, feedback is always appreciated ^_^ thank you guys for reading, and have a fantastic day/night wherever you are♥
> 
> ~ starjay


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